Two different - and widespread - assumptions have led to overlooking the philosophical relevance of Christian figures of late antiquity in certain academic environments. According to the first one, these thinkers merely used ancient philosophy as a tool for dogmatic theological discussions. Consequently, they lacked originality and, thus, did not contribute to philosophical progress. The second assumption goes further, rejecting even an instrumental interaction between both traditions. This operates under the idea that pagan philosophy and early Christian theology were utterly incompatible insofar as the latter perceived itself as against or above reason.
Fortunately, recent scholarship (e.g., Byers, Cross, Edwards, Marmodoro, Sorabji, Zachhuber, among others) is amending such a distorted picture by showing the existence of an original and sophisticated late ancient Christian philosophy. Inspired by this, the conference wants to explore the philosophical richness of one of the greatest thinkers of that period, namely, Augustine of Hippo. The general theme is Augustine's metaphysics of relations (broadly understood) - a philosophical question of the first order then and now.
Organisers: Anna Marmodoro & Rodrigo Ballon-Villanueva
Programme
Monday 11 March
14:00 - 14:30: Meet and Greet (Rainolds Room)
14:30 - 15:45: Richard Cross (University of Notre Dame) - 'Augustine on the Identity of the Divine Relations within the Divine Essence'
15:45 - 16:00: Coffee break
16:00 - 17:15: Sarah Byers (Boston College) - 'The Metaphysics of Trinitarian Relations in Confessions 13'
17:15: 17:30: Coffee break
17:30 - 18:15: Rodrigo Ballon-Villanueva (Durham University) - 'Augustine on Creation. Necessary Relation or Mere Cambridge Change?'
Tuesday 12 March
09:00 - 10:15: Catherine Conybeare (Bryn Mawr College) - 'The Interpersonal Origins of Augustine's Political Philosophy'
10:15 - 10:30: Coffee break
10:30 - 11:45: Anna Marmodoro (Durham University/Oxford University) - TBC
11:45 - 12:00: Coffee break
12:00 - 13:15: Mark Edwards (Oxford University) - 'Temporal and Personal Relations in Augustine and Some More Recent Philosophers'
13:15 - 14:30: Lunch
14:30 - 15:45: John Marenbon (Cambridge University) - TBC
15:45 - 16:15: Coffee break
16:15 - 17:00: Pasquale Viola (University of Italian Switzerland) - 'Augustine on Omnipresence. God's Relation to Creation'
17:00 - 17:15: Coffee break
17:15 - 18:00: Joachim Haddad (Aix Marseille University) - 'On Time and Movement in Augustine's Readings of Genesis'
For more information about the conference and to register please click here
